


Red

by zenexit



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Alternate Ending, Blood, Canon Related, End Game Spoilers, Established Relationship, M/M, Spoilers, spoilers in the summary, well in the second part of the fic anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 14:22:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4308474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenexit/pseuds/zenexit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Zelos, you traitor.”</p><p>“It’s funny you would say that.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS AHEAD
> 
> I really should be writing Fluri I owe to my Flynn, however here I am instead writing sad things from ToS.... I suppose it's because I've been wanting to write this for so long, and even though it's not as long as I planned for it to be, I really wanted to get a ToS work out. So expect this to be the first in a long line of ToS/Zelloyd things. 
> 
> The beginning of this fic is mostly just the entire scene with Zelos, but with more stuff thrown in. Also this is inspired by a comic where Zelos is killed by Lloyd, surprising right?  
> i hope you all enjoy

_“Zelos, you traitor.”_

_“It’s funny you would say that.”_

The words burned coming out of Zelos’s mouth, he felt the bitterness seeping out from his body through every work. His eyes were lidded to slits as he stared out at those watching him. He wished he could say that he was angry looking, and perhaps to them he really seemed like he was, but inside all he could feel at this moment was a darkening deadness.

“It’s not like you trusted me in the first place.” Zelos continued without a pause.

“Betray you? Zelos was our spy from the very beginning.” Pronyma said, cocky tone clear in her voice. Zelos expected to see understanding sinking into the faces around him. “Isn’t that right, Zelos?”

“Is that true?” Lloyd asked, taking a step back. Everyone’s bodies seemed to be reacting more than their faces, their brains not quite telling them how to handle it yet.

It was Lloyd’s eyes that burned Zelos the most in this moment, brown boring into him trying to read down into the depths of his core.

“It’s not true is it? Please, say that she’s lying…” Colette begged from the altar behind Zelos. How ironic that even know when it was her he had betrayed the most she would ask something like this.

Of course it was, they could act as surprised as they wanted but Zelos knew the truth, he knew that all of them had never trusted him to begin with. He was the idiot chosen, the man from Te’Thella who was nothing compared to the other chosen a girl willing to die for a world who didn’t care for her as a person. All he was was flash and show and he had nothing deep down. And maybe that he was true, that he was as shallow as a kiddie pool.

“I side with the strongest,” Zelos began, sounding as matter of fact as he could. “It was a matter of weighing the Renegades, Cruxis, and all of you.”

“You were leaking information to the Renegades too?! I can’t believe you!” Sheena yelled in response.

_Oh yeah? I highly doubt that._

“You were always a pervert, but I never doubted you were a good person when it came down to it.” A pervert huh? That line Zelos wished he could say stung, but it made sense to be said now of all times.

“Why, thank you my sweet, voluptuous honey.” All part of the role, an easy answer, it came out as clearly and as second hand as breathing. Zelos turned around after saying this, turning his back to the party he wished he could say ever felt like they had accepted him.

“But in the end, I choose this side, because Mithos promised to release me from my fate as the Chosen of Mana.” The words helped to remind Zelos of the truth, how after all of this he would be free. Seles would be the Chosen, the Cruxis crystal truly hers to keep this time. His mother would be able to rest in her grave, knowing the reason she died that day instead of him was finally taken care of. This failure of a Chosen would be free.

“You hate being the Chosen so much that you would betray your friends?” Regal’s voice was clear and to the point, it was apparent to Zelos this man had never trusted him. Even now he knew his morals were being judged and he had crossed a point where the man would never forgive him.

“Oh yeah, I do. It’s because of that title that my life has been a total joke.” Every word came out as honest as he had ever been in his entire life. It didn’t help, however, that burning feeling in Zelos’s chest.

“I can’t stand it. I can’t wait for Seles to become the Chosen instead.” His eyes lidded as he stared ahead at the angels surrounding Colette, knowing what would become of her past this point.

“…You’re lying! I still trust you, you hear me!?” Lloyd yelled from behind him. Zelos turned slightly to look at him. “You’re the one that told me I could trust you!”

It felt like a slap.

“What are you, stupid? Lady Pronyma! ♥ Hurry and take Colette.” The words burned his throat to come out but they were before he could stop them. It was that damn kid Lloyd behind him.

“Lloyd…Lloyd! Lloyd!!!” Colette yelled. She moved forward like she was going to make a run for him, but it was too late. The angels teleported her out of there and she was finally gone from Zelos.

Zelos locked eyes with the group before him, taking a few steps forward, white boots dragging across the ancient ground.

“So… This is how it ends.” In front of people like this, some of them strangers and one old friend. A Chosen from another world he had never met before, and a brown haired youth who could hurt him more than anyone else.

“…Why Zelos? You were our friend!” Zelos could hear the hurt in his voice. He chose not to believe it, he knew how easily people could lie.

“Friend…huh?” Zelos paused for a moment. “…I never did get you to trust me, though.” Part of him wanted to laugh when he saw Lloyd’s eyebrows pull together in pain.

“That was…”

“Don’t feel bad about it.” Zelos cut him off quickly. “I mean, I did deceive you after all.”

“There’s got to be some sort of explanation for all this. This is just another joke, right?” Lloyd was grasping at straws.

“…Haha. I don’t know what to tell ya’. I’m just a weak, lazy bum.” The laughter was as shallow and hollow sounding as he felt inside.

“All I want is a fun easy life. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less!” Zelos smiled a bit as he said this, feeling a small piece of freedom return to him. The freedom from finally admitting to what a shallow selfish person he felt like inside. There was a slight burning at his back, for the dramatic effect he let his wings extend from his body. One exchange, that was all he did and these babies were his. Yellow slid from behind him, glittering and fluttering it was a new extension of himself. It was ironic, he thought, they were gold. Nothing like the red hair he had gotten from his father that he and his sister had shared. Nothing like the color of the snow that day.

Zelos could see it in their eyes, there was no other way this would end. It had to be a fight.

“Might as well go all out, right?” Zelos asked calmly, leaning back into his teasing battle stance. He could see the determination in Lloyd’s eyes as he looked at him, the way his jaw was set. He had made up his mind about something.

“…You bastard.” Lloyd practically growled in response.

“You can call me whatever you’d like. But it’s not going to change it. You ready?” Zelos raised his sword up and pointed it ahead, directly at Lloyd. The fight began instantly after that, Lloyd rushing ahead towards him, two swords at his side. Sheena went for it as well, hatred clear as day to Zelos, hatred she and everyone had been hiding all along. He wished he could say he didn’t feel it too at this moment, hatred for those who hadn’t trusted him enough.

Genis was chanting some sort of mantra in the background, and Zelos knew he should be targeting the brat but with the brown eyes locked on his, slashing and moving with such anger, he knew moving away would cost him his life.

Zelos wanted to say this was an amazing battle that everyone would sing of for years to come, but it felt like in all reality it went by too quickly for him. There was just one of him, but all of them. It was hard to move at all, let alone get a moment to cast or get some other attack in there. A lightning blade here and there seemed to be the most he could do, and he knew it wasn’t enough, but for whatever reason he just accepted it. For every blow he landed Raine was there to recover, and there was no one on his side to do the same. It was a fight he couldn’t win he realized this from the very beginning, from the first blow that had hit him.

Lloyd locked eyes with him yet again, or better yet Zelos just happened to raise blue at the right moment. Silver steel slid inside of him, digging through his clothes and flesh as if it was absolutely nothing. A grim part of him let the smile out before he could help it, he watched the horror suddenly dart in those brown eyes as they widened in realization and part of Zelos wondered if he had made a mistake… No, it was too late to think like that now. Lloyd pulled the sword out of him just as quickly as he had stuck it in, and it was then the sharp pain turned into unbearable burning.

“Damn… Ahaha…” Zelos said weakly before falling backwards. His right arm was clutched to his chest, trying to stop the bleeding instinctually.

“Th…that was pretty good…” He began from his position on the ground. Lloyd and Genis were both suddenly a lot closer than he expected them to be, everyone watching around him. His whole body felt like it was burning, his eyes didn’t quite want to focus.

“Zelos…” Lloyd began.

“…It’s okay. To tell you the truth, I was getting pretty tired of living anyway…” the honesty came out of his mouth effortlessly now, no part of Zelos’s body or brain telling him that he shouldn’t. He was so tired… What would be the point of that? Too much damn effort…

“…Don’t talk like that!” Lloyd protested next to him. Zelos could only imagine what he looked like, probably sad. He was quite the empathetic kid like that. He twisted his head slightly, turning so he could look him in the eyes when he said the next part.

“Oh yeah, about Colette… She’s below, in the hall of the Great Seed. Make sure you save her…” Saying this all of a sudden felt very important for him to say.

“W…why did you fight us?!” Lloyd asked sounding panicked. Zelos turned, he couldn’t look him in the eyes when he said this next part.

“Because… my life was a mistake. But…once I’m gone… Seles might…be happier and…” He felt the urge to sob, but held it back. Something like that would only hurt him more, making the blood push out from his wound push faster. He had to get these words out, they were pouring out at this point. “they’ll finally let her out of that abbey…” She had been stuck there since she was small, since her mother had killed his on that fateful day when everything fell apart.

“Don’t tell me that’s why you…” Zelos could hear the shock in Lloyd’s voice.

“Heheheh…nah, that’s just a bonus…” The laughter hurt and it made Zelos cough slightly. “…Make sure you destroy my Cruxis… Crys…tal…” Zelos turned slightly, wanting blue to meet Lloyd’s eyes as he said this. His body hurt so much, everything felt dim and it was even harder to fight it. Lloyd was the last thing he saw, eyes panicking as he felt everything slip away. It was painful, but it felt like sleep…

And then everything went black.

Zelos woke up with a gasp from his bed, red hair falling behind him. He was gasping and his chest burned like it did in his dream. Right below his neck where his exsphere was felt like his flesh was on fire. His eyes burned and suddenly he was aware he had been crying behind his closed sleeping eyelids.

What the hell had all that had been…?

Zelos raised a hand up to his chest and felt someone stir beside him and knew Lloyd was probably about to wake up from his sudden movement.

But his insides still burned, his chest still on fire. At least his eyes weren’t crying anymore, they seemed to have realized how pointless that would have been.

“Zelos…” Lloyd asked sleepily from beside him. Zelos could hear the confusion in his voice, his nightmares never came when he was with people, he realized, Lloyd had never heard him go through this before.

“It was just a dream, honey, go back to sleep.” He urged. But it was pointless, he sounded out of breath, nothing like himself, and terrified. Lloyd sat up right away after that, picking up right away on the distress from his companion.

Lloyd was wearing that black tank top he always did to bed, the one Zelos loved because of the way it showed off his arms. Even that time it had been covered in bandages, it showed off how handsome he was. His eyebrows were pulled together in concern, brown eyes boring into him the same way they had right before he had betrayed all of them. Right before he had fought them all and died.

Zelos swallowed and his throat had never felt drier.

“What was the dream about…?” Lloyd asked cautiously. Zelos wondered if he had ever had nightmares like this. No, probably not.

“You… You were there…” Zelos began, Lloyd’s hand gripped his from beneath the blanket. Zelos had never realized how much physical comfort had meant to him until he and Lloyd had become like this, how just a touch and he could feel latched to this moment. Like he was really there, like he really existed. Everything else could be fought off, ignored and pushed past.

“You killed me. I betrayed all of you, and you killed me.” Zelos muttered it, a small amount of the bitterness sinking back into his voice. He felt the stab so visually, so suddenly again, his arm shook against his chest.

Lloyd swallowed audibly, a pause falling into the room.

“I would never do that to you, you know that right?” Lloyd asked hesitantly, Zelos couldn’t look at him anymore. He couldn’t think of the way Lloyd looked right after he had realized what he had done to him. Right after he had killed the man he called friend. Zelos wished he could tell Lloyd that yes, he knew that, but he really didn’t. He was sure in the moment he would push too far, his anger would cause him to lash out like that, to stab Zelos. He would regret it yes, but he would kill him all the same.

Zelos weakly gripped Lloyd’s hand in response, fighting the urge to laugh. He had never felt more tired than he did. After sleeping weren’t people supposed to feel better not worse?

“Zelos…”

The flash of silver steel went through his mind again, Lloyd lunging forward in his mind. The way the flesh was cut so easily, pushing though and into his body, right by his heart… How ironic. That was where he had always been lacking, hadn’t it? The urge to laugh was fought down again, and Zelos would be surprised if his neck wasn’t doing some gross convulsion right now. The need to sob was just as clear, his boyfriend was this close to killing him then, wasn’t he?

“Zelos!” Lloyd said clearly, pulling Zelos out of it. Light blue eyes moved to look at Lloyd who had a desperate look on his face. It was pained, but he did his best to stare directly into it, trying not to think about how it would look if he was dying in front of him.

A sudden realization flashed through Zelos why he was so upset at this moment, it was because of Lloyd he actually did want to live. Zelos did let the laughter out then, throwing his head back to do it. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did as he was dying, that was for sure.

“Ahahaha…??” Lloyd asked weakly.

“I don’t want you to kill me.” Zelos said clearly, his voice finally sounding like it was in this moment.

“I don’t want to kill you. That would never happen you know… I trust you. You made up for everything that happened, remember? You saved everyone.” Zelos could hear it in Lloyd’s voice, he was holding back how he felt like he had failed everyone in that moment. In all reality that feeling had probably led to Zelos’s death in his dream…

“You trust me.” Zelos repeated to himself, feeling his insides warm.

“Yes, of course I do!” Lloyd said, so matter of fact, no part of him doubted Zelos.

“Everyone trusts me…” Zelos whispered a bit, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He was glad it was dark, even if Lloyd could see him, he was glad it was dark so he could fight the embarrassment of this moment from the true joy he was feeling.

Lloyd lunged forward across the bed then, his lips reaching for Zelos’s, their mouths meeting in a kiss. Zelos laughed while he felt Lloyd smile into him. The joy was spreading throughout him like roses, he decided, red and beautiful.

“Go to bed now, okay? You need to sleep.” Lloyd mumbled into Zelos’s neck. He was draped across him. Zelos knew he should push Lloyd away, in his sleep he turned into a volcano of heat, but he couldn’t bring himself to right now.

“Alright alright, honey, you get some sleep too. I’ll see you in the mornin’, make some breakfast or something.”

Zelos couldn’t stop smiling even as he fell asleep, Lloyd’s sleepy smile pressed against him.


End file.
